September 26, 1997
The No. 24-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team will compete in the third annual Missouri Bluffs Intercollegiate Sunday and Monday at Missouri Bluffs Golf Club in St. Charles, Mo.
The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Sunday and 18 on Monday. Play will begin at 8:15 a.m. each day, with Sunday's afternoon round starting at 1:30 p.m.
The 14-team field includes six teams that are ranked in the top 35 nationally, including No. 6 Arizona, No. 22 SMU, No. 25 Arkansas, No. 31 Oklahoma and No. 32 Tulsa. In addition to A&M and Oklahoma, Big 12 conference members Missouri, Baylor, Colorado and Kansas will also compete, along with Virginia Tech, Air Force and Southwestern Louisiana.
Representing A&M will be senior Miguel del Angel (McAllen, Texas), juniors Ryan Palmer (Amarillo, Texas), Ty Cox (Amarillo, Texas) and Matt Welch (DeSoto, Texas) and freshman Ryan Tull (Georgetown, Texas).
"We're looking forward to an outstanding tournament on a great golf course against a very strong field," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "It's a good tournament for us since a lot of Big 12 teams will be there. It is supposed to rain Sunday but hopefully we'll be able to play. The guys are hitting the ball very well but have struggled on the greens. We worked very hard this week on our putting and I think we'll be improved."
The Aggies opened their fall season with a 15th-place finish Sept. 19-20 at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque.
Cox leads the Aggies with a 72.50 stroke average, followed by Palmer at 74.00, del Angel at 75.00 and Tull at 77.00. Welch is making his first appearance of the year.
A&M finished ninth at the Missouri Bluffs Intercollegiate last season. The par 71, 7,047- yard Missouri Bluffs Golf Club was designed by famed architect Tom Fazio.